Opening Notes: So last chapter Dion found himself in quite the tricky predicament along with his girlfriend. How will they get outta this? Stay tuned to find out.
P.S. Also…I may or may not have been listening to a no-commentary run of Doom Eternal on YouTube while writing this chapter's big fights between Dion and each of the Batties…
Chapter 12
The Light's Domination
Brookfield Place, Sant Ambroeus
September 13th, 2007, 2:31 PM…
Rebecca Townsend POV…
It was so fucking unfair.
One moment everything's fine, she's having an awesome time with her literal knight in shining armor, and the next they're in a goddamn hostage situation?! It was some cosmic level bullshit that was clearly determined to make it impossible for Rebecca to have anything nice in her life for more than a few minutes apparently, and it was seriously pissing her off. Yeah, she was also scared, terrified if she were being perfectly honest, but it was being drowned out by her mounting fury at the fact some asshole over the intercom was threatening her and Dion while holding everyone in the mall hostage. And while she wanted to know why this Max Steel fucker and his what…gang? fuckbuddies? were apparently after them, now wasn't the time for twenty questions as Dion got to his feet at the same time she did.
Others followed their example, while some elected to remain seated, wide eyed and frozen in terror. Much the same held true for the staff as well. A heavily laden tray filled with fresh food fell from the nerveless fingers of a waitress and no one paid it any mind as it crashed onto the floor. That seemed to snap everyone still seated to jump to their feet, murmuring fearfully as they turned this way and that, desperately looking for a way out that they likely wouldn't find without him clearing the way first.
Well, he wasn't about to disappoint them on that front, of that she was sure.
"Rebecca," he began as he started for the sealed glass doors that would lead him back out onto the mall's first floor once more, "get everyone here into the back. I'm going to handle this."
"Alright." She didn't argue, she didn't demand to follow him into whatever fucked up situation these assholes had planned for the two of them, she simply walked towards Dion and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Kick their fucking asses."
He gave her a grim smile before nodding quickly. "I will. Now go, and arm yourselves with whatever you can get your hands on, just in case one of these thugs gets past me." He said as he waited just long enough for Rebecca to get the few other patrons and the kitchen staff to get into the back so he wouldn't have to worry about getting them mixed up in the fight to come.
She might've talked just a bit louder than usual when she tried to get everyone focused on huddling down, on hiding, on focusing on her, than what was strictly necessary. She was scared damnit, of course she'd freak out a bit! Though if that meant less people were paying attention to… her boyfriend? To Dion, the better. That and while she wanted to help more, Rebecca wasn't about to get in the middle of a Parahuman slug fest anyway since she didn't have any powers or training to fall back on. She'd just be a liability, so while it stung her pride somewhat to essentially run and hide like a coward, the sensible part of her knew better than to risk herself so stupidly. No, better to protect these people that were trapped in this place than put herself in harm's way over something so stupid and shortsighted. With that said, she made a promise to herself to start training in some kinda martial arts or self defense so she wouldn't be helpless like this again.
Just that, even with all of the Parahuman villains out there, only Silverstrike had ever bothered her and her mother personally, and he had been easily outran the few times he'd tried to make a move on her. Now though the game had changed in a big way, and as she got everyone else in the restaurant moving, Rebecca was determined not to be a helpless bystander anymore. Whether he realized it or not, Dion had already become a huge inspiration to her and a few of her friends, and now, seeing him approach the glass doors, an all too familiar light bubbling to the surface of his skin, Rebecca had another reason altogether to take strength from the white knight as she disappeared into the kitchen last. She just hoped Dion would be alright while he tore apart whoever had targeted them both. Because to put it quite simply, she wanted their last moments of their pathetic lives to be nothing but agony for interrupting her fucking date, her first date of her life no less, which made her even more furious! But really, she just wanted this nightmare to end as soon as possible as she huddled down with the rest of the people in the restaurant.
More importantly though, she hoped, again, that Dion would make it through this.
Brookfield Place, Sant Ambroeus
2:33 PM…
Dion Lesage POV…
It was with a casual flick of his wrist once Rebecca's back was turned that the steak knife he'd slipped into the sleeve of his white suit flew from his outstretched hand. Moments later, the fish eyed camera embedded in the restaurant's ceiling was shattered into a thousand pieces, a pulse of light ensuring its complete destruction, blinding whoever was watching on the other end in the same instant. He was banking on the hope that whatever jammer these guys had set up prevented them from speaking to each other as well, otherwise this was going to get bloody real fast. Well…more bloody since he had already decided that these people that were trying to hold everyone inside the mall hostage needed to die.
Not just because they were violating near every Unwritten Rule that governed this world's Parahuman society in regards to when it was 'appropriate' to engage in violent confrontation, let alone trying to attack him while he was in his civilian guise, but they were putting hundreds of innocent bystanders in harm's way just to get to him. That above all other concerns made Stephen's decision so much simpler as he just as quickly slammed his open palm into the reinforced glass, bringing all of his considerable strength of the Dominant of Bahamut to bear. Needless to say, the glass that was probably able to withstand automatic weapons fire in the case of a Parahuman assault, shattered like it was made out of tissue paper. By that point, Dion had entered his semi-Primed state, stepping out of the restaurant just as a blonde streak skidded to a stop several feet away. "Fuck me!"
These thugs had woken the dragon, and now they were going to pay.
Dion didn't say a word, his palpable fury saying more than enough as the blonde speedster rapidly closed the distance between them, a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. Her movements were fast as she zig zagged as she closed in, trying to keep Dion guessing, but he only moved his eyes as he tracked her every twitch. It was just as well since she was indeed quick, but when she tried to move in, firing at him while preparing to stab him, Dion was just able to dodge three of her bullets before ducking under the slash she aimed at his throat.
Each of her shots echoed through the unnaturally silent mall, even at this distance though he could hear how people began to murmur and cry out in fear at the sound of them. That was only more reason to end this quickly before a full blown panic broke out. To his intrigue as she zipped around him though, the speedster couldn't stop on a dime. She had to skid to a stop, meaning once she got going, she had to have room to slow down or risk serious injury. That was a weakness he could exploit, and he very well intended to do just that as he raised a barrier to stop the next barrage of bullets cold as she continued to dart about the wide open area in front of the restaurant. It was only when she tried to run past him to shoot and stab him in the back in an effort to slip past his front facing barrier that the fight ended just as quickly as it'd begun.
It ended when he snapped his hand up, and caught her by the face, his own arm infused by the power of Bahamut refused to budge even the slightest bit, so her head was held in place while the rest of her body tried to move forward, the result was predictable if effective with her own speed snapping her neck like a twig. Slamming her down for good measure, Dion sighed and shook his head in disgust as he stood over the speedster's body, a small crater in the hard linoleum having formed beneath her that soon enough began to slowly fill with her blood. She wasn't much older than him and Rebecca, yet she'd been an active participant to this terrorist attack, and it was definitely a terrorist attack at this point given that they were trying to use fear and intimidation to get what they wanted. He was going to deny them at every opportunity though since he knew full well they'd just target someone else like this otherwise. Considering they were fully willing to take hostages, he doubted the PRT would've let them live anyway. The Three Strikes Law was pretty ironclad like that, or it was supposed to be anyway.
Besides, one of the Batties was dead, so there was no turning back now for either side.
Regardless, he took her pistol before he quickly checked the chamber before unloading the mag. A full clip then, the speedster having likely reloaded during her hit and run attempts, with two extra on her person. It would have to be enough. He would've much preferred his lance in his current life given his new powers and all that went with it, but he'd been a marine first, so guns were an old friend that he was well acquainted with. As such, he marched forward without a moment's hesitation, though he did kick himself slightly when he realized he should've interrogated the speedster before nearly taking her head off as he had. Then again, she probably would've gotten away from him, allowing her to run off and alert the rest of her gang, so it was probably better he hadn't tried. It was too late in any event, so he resolved to make due with what he had. With that said, given that these guys were able to monitor the entire mall, the most logical place to start looking was the nearest security station. Now he just had to find the damned place before they realized something had happened as he made it a point to shoot out every camera he could along the way despite the fact he was also making everyone within earshot very nervous with every pull of the trigger.
He just hoped he didn't cause a full blown panic himself before this was over.
Central security station
Around the same time…
Emma Moore/Shockjock POV…
Something was wrong, that much was made clear when camera feeds started to go offline.
"What's going on, Prudence? Why are we losing cameras?" Max growled as he leaned ominously over the back of Prudence's chair.
"I don't know, I think someone's destroying them!" She exclaimed as she started to rapidly tap at the keyboard in front of her, quickly switching between the still functioning camera feeds as she did, looking for an angle to figure out what was happening out there.
Emma, having waited around long enough, pushed off the wall and spat out, "We already know what the fuck's happening, that bastard's on his way here."
"We have an entire mall full of hostages, he's supposed to be a hero, there's no way he'd risk their lives like that." Max argued, but he wasn't that stupid.
"We also threatened his bitch." Emma pointed out as she started for the door. "You keep trying to figure out what's happening. I'm going to hunt that shitstain down, maybe fry some people on the way as a reminder of who's in charge here."
"Grab some kids, and make sure he hears their screams." Max said to her back, to which Emma waved a hand over her shoulder in response before stalking out of the central security station and heading down the back halls so she could get back into the mall proper. On her way however, the hallway lights began to flicker and crackle as bolts of electricity began to lash out, hitting Emma's body with increasing regularity. Yet she only smiled at the rush she received as more and more power was drained out of the mall's electrical grid and emergency generators, giving her plenty of juice to work with. Best of all, their little jammer had its own power supply, meaning she could take as much energy as she needed from the mall without ever touching the Tinker-tech device's internal supply, which would, supposedly, last for a month if they so needed.
She doubted they'd need it for more than an hour.
Not that she particularly cared about that as she exited the backrooms, and stalked towards through the immediate area, the lights all around her growing dim as they too crackled and popped as she siphoned more electricity with every step. When she got her hands on that little bitch and her fuckstick of a boyfriend, she was gonna make him watch as Emma fried her ass so badly they'd need dental records to identify her charred, blackened remains. It was the least she could do for Silverstrike, to avenge his death even if she also hadn't liked him all that much. It was simply the principle of the matter though, and honestly, the new white knight of New York pissed her off something fierce just by simply breathing the same air. Because as far as she was concerned, any Protectorate member was just another thug with powers, making them no better than villains like her. The only difference was that she was honest about what she was.
She smiled when she heard the quiet mutterings of a couple of cockroaches nearby. No doubt huddling in the dark and praying to whatever worthless god they believed in that they'd be saved. "Hello~" She purred as she stepped around the corner, grinning down at a family of four. The husband, an average bloke in every sense of the word, had the gall to stand in front of his wife and kids like that'd do them any good. She saw how his knees shook when electricity continued to dance around her.
How pathetic.
"Can you do me a favor?" She asked playfully, as she lifted a hand, sparks dancing between her fingers. "Can you scream while you die? So many fuckers just bite off their tongue and shit. They always make it so disappointing like that."
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw something bright moving towards her, and had just enough time to turn around, lightning ready to be unleashed. She never had the chance to do that as a shoulder smashed into her front, throwing her backwards like a ragdoll, smashing her against the wall hard enough to drive all the air out of her lungs. Fuck! That nearly broke her spine!
She drew from the power all around her, felt the electricity seep into her body from every direction, into her flesh, blood and bones, and healing them, making her… better. "That was a big mistake, shithead!" She growled, her hands lighting up like the Fourth of July. "You'll beg me for-" She looked up in time to see the gun, Dorothy's pistol her brain supplied, aimed straight at her face. She registered the muzzle flash, and then-
Brookfield Place, 1st floor thoroughfare
2:45 PM…
Dion Lesage POV…
Standing over the formerly electrically empowered villain, her brains decorating the wall behind her, Dion shook his head in disgust once again at the senselessness of this attack. Whatever was driving these thugs, it wasn't worth losing their lives over. Given the announcement over the mall's PA system though, he was willing to put good odds he'd done something to piss them off. Was this something to do with Silverstrike? He had no way to know that for sure, but he couldn't shake the feeling his first act in town was finally coming back to haunt him in a big way. If that were true, then any innocent deaths that happened here would be as a direct result of his actions. True, these 'Batties', a seriously immature and idiotic name, were making the choice to do this, to put all of these people in danger out of petty vengeance, but that didn't absolve Dion's personal involvement either.
He turned towards the frightened family, hastily lowering the weapon in his hand, still ready to be used at a moment's notice while being non-threatening just like his drill-sergeant had taught him. "Are you injured?" He asked gently, his voice sounding strangely ethereal with the power of Bahamut shrouding him, obscuring his features for the most part as well as any mask or helmet. The general outline of his face would be recognizable, but not the finer details, and he doubted anyone here would be able to recall much of even that given the situation at hand.
The father he assumed rapidly shook his head as he turned to address Dion more fully, "N-no, we're alright Bahamut! Oh god…she was gonna-"
"I know, but your family and you are safe, sir." Dion assured him with a gentle smile, having positioned himself so the kids didn't have to look at the dead villain behind him now. "Find a new place to hide, quickly now. I'll handle the rest of these bad guys, alright?"
"Y-yeah, we'll go." The older man said before hustling his wife and kids away. Only to flinch back when Dion, in a sudden burst of speed, interposed himself between them and a projectile screaming through the air towards them. Instead of taking it head on, he struck its side with his free hand, diverting it rather than outright blocking the concrete block.
"Go! I'll keep you safe!" He shouted at the family as another, and then another block sailed towards them.
"Big words, but can you keep it?" A dark voice questioned as the outline of a man slowly became visible from behind a second floor glass railing. Dion reacted quickly, Jumping clean over the next large projectile as he angled himself to get up to this new assailant, only to see another piece of debris coming at the last second. He hissed in pain as the second concrete chunk slammed into his crossed arms, sending him sprawling across the linoleum floor as a large, muscle packed figure with slate gray skin rushed him after leaping the railing. Dion recovered his footing just in time, Jumping back and away from the concrete skinned brute, a single bullet slamming into the man's chest even as he swung a large fist at Dion's face in a vicious spinning backhand followed by a rapid fire jab aimed at his chest. Even blocking the blow on his already bruised and battered arms sent Dion skidding across the linoleum, his left arm aching terribly from the powerful blow that he felt even through his partially Primed form.
"I really oughta thank Dorothy for all that video footage she got." The giant concrete man grinned, his scarred and battered face twisted into a malicious grin as he and Dion squared off, circling each other while everyone closest to them wisely moved as far away from them as they could get. "I assume you took her out by now."
"You could say that." Dion's voice boomed, reverberating through the air like a force all its own. Yet for all of its supernatural power, the walking cinder block in front of him didn't seem affected at all. "But thank you for confirming a suspicion I've had for a while now as to why it felt like someone was watching me. So you've been planning this for some time?"
"That's right, shitkicker, and all because you butchered Silverstrike. Oh sure he was a jackass, but he was still one of ours, so now we have to kill you for it." Max Steel, or so Dion assumed, casually explained with the same tone someone would use when discussing the weather, leaving Dion to wonder where things had gone so wrong for this guy that he'd turned to a life of crime. "But enough chit chat, you little bastard. I'm going to rip your fucking head off, and skull fuck your empty eye sockets."
"Try it." Dion quietly growled, his light brown-gold eyes turning a vibrant yellow for a moment as he emitted a bright, blinding blast of white light, making Max Steel stumble back as he held an arm over his face. Dion wasted no time in closing the distance, a blast of his power propelling him forward as he fired three more times. While the bullets did little damage, they still tore chunks of Max's concrete skin away, revealing the flesh of his arm underneath. Seeing as much, Dion realized he simply had to tear away Max's outer shell to get to the man underneath, and that's exactly what Dion intended to do as he closed to melee. Tossing his stolen pistol into the air, a fist collided into the side of Max's head, a pulse of magical light upping the force of his strike considerably. Enough so that the burly brute's concrete encased head shattered, leaving most of the side of his flesh and blood head exposed. While the punch left him reeling, it wasn't quite enough as Max's right hand snapped up, and caught Dion's following punch, stopping it dead despite his still covered hand losing its protective shell.
"Gotcha!" Max shouted in triumph, slamming his still partially concrete covered head into Dion's glowing face before throwing his hand aside and punching him hard in the chest with his still encased left hand. The knight was sent sprawling to the ground once more, head ringing, nose broken, and his chest aching something fierce, but he was far from out of the fight. He only just managed to roll aside Max's following punch that instead of caving his head in, blasted a hole into the floor where he'd just been laying.
He rolled sideways and sprung to his feet with the grace of a dancer. Being prone with such a determined opponent trying to kill him was the last thing Dion wanted to be. Max continued his relentless attack, throwing one punch after another. He'd clearly been in his fair share of scuffles even before he'd Triggered. It showed with the way he tried to beat Dion down, to cause as much damage as he could in the hopes of leaving him at his mercy.
Unlike Dion though, he'd never been trained to kill.
The difference of skill between them became all too apparent when Dion slid under one sweeping punch before he retaliated, a fist shattering both Max's outer shell under his right arm, and the man's shoulder in the same instant a flash of light exploded outward from the point of impact. Stumbling away, both of them could only gawk even as Dion slammed his next punch into Max's chest, as draconic scales began to materialize and reshape his hands, turning them into razor sharp claws before those same glowing whitish gray scales began to work their way up his arms. Despite blocking another blow from Max, his arms, now reinforced with draconic muscle and scaly hide armor, barely stung from the previously powerful blow. Max's eyes bulged as he realized this fact at the same time Dion did, but Dion recovered first as he punched the brute in the throat before just as quickly grabbing the man's head between his now clawed hands.
Coughing and sputtering, Max could do nothing but uselessly claw and punch at Dion's arms, his longer reach making it impossible for the brute to get within striking distance of anything else. Forced to his knees, Dion coldly glared down into Max's face as the concrete still covering the right side of his head began to get crushed while his left side wasn't so fortunate, the man's skull beginning to give way under the immense pressure he was bringing to bear. Screaming in pain, Max continued to try and break free, but Dion was much stronger than he'd started, a bellowing roar ripping through his chest as his scale covered arms visibly bulged before a horrendous crunch followed with an explosion of the inside of Max's head spraying out in every direction. What gore and blood splattered across Dion's chest and face was just as quickly burned away, vapourized, erased so completely that not even the stench of his blood and gore remained.
Leaving no trace that he'd just crushed another man's head with his bare hands.
"You…bastard!" A woman shouted from behind and above him.
Turning fast, Dion expected another brute like Max. What he saw was standing behind the same railing Max jumped over, was a bald, butch, ugly looking stick of a young woman with a microphone in her left hand. Before he could do anything further, she screamed, her voice coming out like the shriek of a thousand damned souls, and a wave of sonic force emanated from every speaker connected to the PA system, forcing Dion to his knees as debilitating agony ripped through every part of his body. He wasn't the only one though as he distantly saw everyone, all distant figures having fled his confrontation with Max, within earshot, and likely throughout the entire mall, was suffering the same pain he was. Crawling was the only thing he could do as she continued to scream, his ears beginning to bleed from the auditory assault. He had to stop her or everyone's internal organs would liquify, his included! Yet he already knew he couldn't get close enough in time, and he couldn't focus through the pain to bring his more ranged attacks to bear against her.
Not that that stopped Dion from trying anyway as he continued to crawl, his heartbeat growing arithmetic in the face of this constant onslaught even as he felt it fight against it, felt his heart, his entire body slowly grew stronger in the face of this adversary. It wouldn't be fast enough though, and even if he survived the next thirty seconds, everyone else wouldn't be so lucky as they felt their blood vessels burst, their eyes turn into liquid jelly, and their brains slowly leaking out of their ruptured eardrums all while their organs exploded as their bones turned to powder from the strain. So he did everything he could to reach the escalators so he could make his way to her position, to put a stop to the sonic assault she was unleashing. So focused on that singular goal, he never saw part of the skylight on the ceiling of the second floor explode inward until a blur came down, and unleashed a multi-colored barrage of beam attacks on the screaming banshee of a woman.
Three things happened at about the same time when the beams made contact.
The first was that the bald woman burst into flames when the orange light beam hit her, filling the air with a sickening stench of burning flesh. The second thing to occur happened once a localized gravity well forced her to her knees courtesy of a jet black beam connecting with her, crushing her legs just below her knees where it struck. And finally, the blue beam that hit her dead center in the chest flash froze her, ensuring her death as her previously burning body toppled over, shattering into a gorey mass of crimson ice chunks. Dion groaned, relief crashing through him as he lost a hold of his partially Primed state as he flopped onto his back. When Eidolon landed next to him though, Dion realized he had a bigger problem.
He couldn't hear anything.
The second floor skylight
2:47 PM…
Zachariah 'Zeke' Drakos/Eidolon POV…
They had a problem, a big one as he saw Bahamut drop out of his empowered state.
The dozens of wounded civilians were a priority, as was the newest Ward that looked like he'd been put through the ringer, but he couldn't get any of them help due to the simple fact something was jamming Eidolon's comms. Tinker-tech seemed the most likely culprit, but trying to look through every corner of the mall to find it would waste too much time while trying to carry everyone out one at a time would also be too time consuming. Thankfully there was another option as Eidolon glanced towards the nearest exit he could find, and simply shouted, "Get clear of the exit!"
Close to three dozen people of all ages, despite clutching at their bleeding ears and noses, did their best to get out of the way. Eidolon waited just long enough to ensure no one would get caught by his beam attacks before unleashing a single, vibrant red light on the security gate covered automatic doors that led to the outside. The explosion that followed shattered the reinforced steel like the fist of an angry god, along with the equally sturdy glass for the automatic doors in the same instant. Those that saw the new 'exit' wasted no time in getting out, helping those closest to them in the process. That still left the problem of the rest of the mall's former hostages needing to be evacuated, but at least there was a way in and out now, which meant PRT troopers and other heroes among the Protectorate could help sweep the entire building. First though, he needed to get Bahamut out of here before someone took a picture of his unmasked face.
A moment later, Zeke was standing over Dion once more before he knelt down and grasped the young Ward's hand. "It's over. You did it."
"Eid…Eidolon? I can't…I can't hear anything." Shit…that wasn't good.
Thinking quickly, Eidolon pulled out his cellphone and quickly typed out a message before showing Dion his phone's screen. "Help's incoming. Just breathe, we'll get you fixed up."
"What about Becca? Is she okay?" Dion asked, looking around, still appearing quite dazed from the onslaught of sound.
"Where was she last? I'll find her once I get you outta here." He assured him, before Dion shakily nodded and gave Zeke this Becca's last known location. Hefting the young knight into his arms, Eidolon flew out of the new hole he'd ripped open just as dozens of PRT troopers rushed in, the parking lot outside alight with several heavily reinforced armored vans and transports. Finding a PRT sanctioned ambulance, meaning the people inside were trusted to keep their identities to themselves during situations just like this, Eidolon set Dion on the gurney before telling the attending EMTs what little he knew before going back inside the mall. Dion was in safe hands now, his duty done and the day saved along with who knew how many innocent people, but Eidolon's day was only just beginning.
The aftermath of situations like this was never easy to handle.
Keeping his word to the young Ward as he barked orders to the nearest PRT commanders, Eidolon floated his way to the Italian restaurant he'd been directed towards, seeing the damage Dion had caused on his way out, along with the dead body of a blonde. Given the many knives tucked into a bandolier across her chest, and the empty holster for a pistol on her person though, he assumed that she'd been one of the hostage takers, which meant Bahamut had protected himself and whoever was still in the restaurant. Not only that, but the skid marks on the hard linoleum lead Zeke to the conclusion that she'd been a Mover, a speedster of some small skill and power. Add on top of that the way her neck was snapped, and he was willing to bet Dion had somehow caught her mid run, using her own momentum against her to finish her off. His speed had already been impressive, but his tactical mind was becoming even more readily apparent. Was he perhaps a Thinker and he simply wasn't aware of it, or was he just that skilled? If it were the latter, then how was he this good?
A mystery that could wait as he flew forward, and called out, "Whoever's in here, please come out with your hands up and empty. You're safe now, the PRT are already inside the building."
Someone glanced around the corner quickly, just enough to catch a glimpse before pulling back before leaning forward yet again. "Wait… Eidolon?" A black haired young woman blinked at him, surprised to see him, before the wonder faded. "Did you see Di-, my boyfriend? He's tall, handsome, and-" What followed could be called a… romanticized description of Bahamut, and a detailed one at that. It seemed as though he had found this… Becca. She wasn't alone as a little over a dozen people also began to come out of the back, some of them having suffered similarly as everyone else had, their ears and noses bleeding, but for the most part they seemed to be in better shape.
Still, he nodded firmly, and said, "Your boyfriend was injured, but he's alright. He's already being attended to by our EMTs."
He blinked behind his helmet's unmoving faceplate when Becca shot forward. "Where is he?! You need to take me to him, please!"
"Ma'am, you need to calm down. You'll be able to join him just as soon as we get everyone out of here and examined."
"F-fine…" She murmured, relenting though it was obvious that she wasn't happy about it. Escorting the group out, Eidolon saw Becca out of the mall personally though not before waving a couple of PRT troopers her way, stressing upon them that she knew Bahamut's real identity and was dating the young Ward. They had protocols for this kinda thing, and he doubted Dion would've shared his identity with her if he didn't trust her. No sooner had he gotten Rebecca Townsend out of the mall did his suit's built-in radio came back online, allowing for far better coordination between the various squads.
"We've found the jammer. It was in the sub-basement." Another of the commanders informed him as Eidolon did what he could to help evac the rest of the civilians, directly helping those that couldn't walk under their own power for one reason or the other, and…moving the few that hadn't survived the sonic onslaught from what the survivors had since informed them about.
"Prepare it for transport." Eidolon ordered, although he'd already come to the assumption these bottom feeders had been helped by Contessa. Given their lack of costumes, the fact they hadn't appeared all that well equipped after stumbling across the other three dead gang members, and the fact they'd targeted Dion while he was on a date in his civilian identity, it was the only thing that made sense. As such, Eidolon made it a mental point to get in touch with the high powered Thinker as soon as he had a free moment to do that in the hopes he'd be able to get to the bottom of whatever scheme she had put in motion. Really though, he was probably going to have to resist the urge not to rip her head off.
But that could come later, he still had a job to do after all.
Lausanne, London
Around the same time…
The Simurgh POV…
[Shard status confirmed: Deactivated]
It seemed that Bahamut had succeeded in overcoming the 'Batties' after all.
She might not be able to glean Bahamut's movements directly, but she could still perceive the other Shards and their hosts just fine. So when she got alerted to the fact four Shard hosts were confirmed deceased, it'd been a simple matter to figure out how it'd happened, and who'd been responsible. Given what she knew about Dion Lesage, it'd been a simple matter to piece together the rest through indirect use of her powers. As for why she was in the ruins of Lausanne, London, the solitude and the fact this place had been decimated by her before it'd been bombed to ensure her brainwashed thralls couldn't do further damage to the rest of the country, ensured that she wouldn't be disturbed as she considered her next move given the additional information she now had available.
It was becoming increasingly apparent Bahamut was stronger than she had initially believed, thus she couldn't leave him alive for much longer since all data projections made it clear that he'd be able to challenge them directly if his rate of growth continued. However, the hope he'd already begun to inspire before this hostage situation had been resolved would now likely increase significantly, making him a well known figure in the public eye.
That alone presented its own problems, but it also provided an opportunity, one that she was already in the process of bending to her will. If the world at large were going to put their hopes into this Bahamut, then she'd ensure that his popularity increased by hyping his name up on the PHO boards. Once his fame reached an appropriate level for her purposes, then, and only then, would the Simurgh crush him personally. She wasn't called the Hope Killer for nothing, and every data point she could glean said that this was the best way to return things to the way they'd been before. Hero had died to the Siberian, ensuring the people's hopes were dashed, and Bahamut would follow, putting humanity back in its proper place once more. They couldn't be allowed to surpass and overcome their power. That went against their primary directives, as such the Simurgh would crush him, turning him into a warning against the rest.
No one would dare challenge their power again after she was done.
End Notes: And here you are folks, next chapter will be an aftermath chapter with some relevant plot stuff happening along the way, but the Simurgh's going to be making her move once she gets Dion's name out there using her PHO access. Hopefully, this FINALLY prompts some of y'all to get some PHO stuff out there lol. At any rate, see you all next time guys and gals.